


The Times Ahead of Us

by GalaxyDragon



Category: Final Space (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Just something to work on until season 3, This story will probably be edited a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-10-29 17:49:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20800490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyDragon/pseuds/GalaxyDragon
Summary: Kind of writing how I think chapter 24 might go, and beyond. This might turn into it's own story though. But I want to get back into practicing writing.





	1. Trapped Inside a Hellscape

_Invictus._

"Avocato, pull them back in!" Sheryl shouted, startling the others. Motioning for the Ventrexian to reel in the tether, she sprinted to the opened door to grab her son's attention. The cat stared at the enormous demon, towering over the tiny humans as they embraced. Neither Gary or Quinn had noticed Invictus was hovering over them, leaning closer with that intimidating smile. The hair on the tip of his tail began to rise.

"Pull the damn tether already!" screamed Sheryl, putting on her helmet. "LOOK ABOVE YOU!"

Gary's eyes popped open and flew upwards, seeing Invictus glaring down at them. He wrapped his arms around Quinn and held on as tightly as possible, not even risking the chance of losing her again. Although her body was weak due to floating in midair for a period of time, she managed to cross her arms around his back and hold on, head rested on his shoulder.

"Pull us in!" shouted Gary. 

_"You think you can run. You think you can hide. But it doesn't matter where you go, when you go, or what you do. I'll keep finding you, Gary Goodspeed. And I'll keep killing you."_

That voice sent chills down Gary's spine. Even if this wasn't Invictus's physical form, they all needed to be afraid. Very afraid. Gary felt the tug on the chord as the Crimson Light began to bring them closer to the safety of the spacecraft. Sheryl's hand was outstretched for him to grab ahold of and bring them inside before Invictus took either of them. Gary clasped Sheryl's hand, and she yanked them through the door, all three of them crashing onto the cold ground before the hatch slammed behind them, bathing the crew in darkness once more.

A blur of orange raced up to them, helping Gary stand up with an arm draped around Quinn's shoulder for support as he took off his own helmet.

"That was close!" exclaimed the small Ventrexian, his tail swishing back and forth nervously. Before he realized what was happening, Quinn slowly leaned down and gave Little Cato a hug, the kid embracing her with all his might. Gary leaned down and joined them, holding them as close as possible. He finally had them all back.

"Little Cato. I'm glad you're alright" said Quinn, smiling. She lifted the helmet off her head, revealing a face covered in tears. Gary pulled her into him even more, burying his face in her soft hair. The three sat there embracing on the floor for what seemed like hours, just holding one another close and hoping to never again lose each other. KVN flew over, flinging his arms around Quinn and Gary and hugging tightly.

"Yaaay Quinn is back! I mean Nightfall just died but Quinn is back!" KVN laughed.

"SHUT THE HELL UP KVN AND GET AWAY FROM US!" Gary yelled angrily, pushing the one-eyed robot away from them with his prosthetic arm. He couldn't deal with that right now. And the fact that he brought up Nightfall only made it worse. That wasn't a joke.

"...Nightfall?" asked Quinn, turning her head towards him and raising an eyebrow. Gary's expression changed from joy to a frown, his eyes glancing towards the floor.

"Yeah...Nightfall. She was with us there for awhile, helping us find the dimensional keys so we could free Bolo and rescue you."

Quinn frowned, turning her head in curiosity and confusion.

"She's..she's gone." Gary sighed. "She made a sacrifice only the bravest and kindest people would make. And we can't ever forget that."

The crew sat there in silence for a few moments, even Sheryl, who had strolled back over and sat down in one of the chairs. Ash gripped Nightfall's helmet harder, tears pricking at the sides of her eyes. The blonde motioned for her to join them in their team squad huggle. Ash sat the helmet down neatly on the floor and walked hesitantly over to the group, arms behind her back. Little Cato stood up and held her hand gently, bringing her closer to Quinn.

Gary took it upon himself to introduce them.

"Quinn, this is Ash Graven. She's still a bit of a mystery, can shoot demon powers out of her hands. But nevertheless, amazing. If it weren't for this awesome kid, we wouldn't have made it out of a lot of sticky situations we got ourselves into." said Gary, nodding at Ash. The pink haired girl held out her hand, which Quinn took and shook.

"Hi there, Ash. I'm Quinn Ergon. It's nice to meet you. I'm seeing a lot of new faces." 

"And I'm HUE! You know me." said the trash robot, waddling up to the tired woman. Quinn's eyes widened and she began to chuckle as she scanned over HUE's physical body. 

"You..HUE! Look at you!" She smiled, leaning a hand down and patting the robot's head.

"It's not been the best. I've been, unhelpful in many ways."

"Pff..haha!" Quinn chuckled, leaning some of her weight against Gary. It was starting to occur to him that Quinn was very weak and tired. Yet here she was, laughing and just so glad to be on solid ground again and with the crew.

Suddenly the floor began to vibrate as Fox ran up behind them, picking Quinn and Gary up and giving them a hug.

"I'm Fox!"

"Oh, hi there Fox." Quinn smiled, wincing in pain. Gary noticed this and looked at Fox, asking for him to put them back down. Doing so, Fox backed up, smiling.

"It's nice to finally meet you. We've been through a lot to get those keys so we could get you out of here."

Once again Quinn's confusion was raised.

"Keys?" she asked.

"It's a super long story I'll tell you about later. Right now, we need to get you to the medical bay." he stated, standing up with her leaning against him once more. Quinn closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. The rest of the crew realized she just needed some time to take everything in, and to get used to gravity again.

"Here, I'll take you back there. The rest of you watch for Invictus and make sure all doors on this ship stay closed. We don't want to risk anything at all. We're in final space now you guys. Anything is possible, and we know nothing about what lays ahead of us. Be careful." He told the crew, bringing Quinn with him to the back of the ship while AVA prepared a healing pod. Ash picked up Nightfall's helmet and slowly walked back to her room while Little Cato ran back to his father. Gary and Quinn passed by Avocato on the way back.

"Hey Avocato...AVOCATO!?" Gary winced at her scream. Avocato shrugged.

"Yeaahh that's also a long story!" chuckled the blonde, the door swishing shut behind them. "And I'll tell it to you all later. Right now, we just need to get you some care."

The two humans walked in silence to the medical bay, Quinn smiling softly and resting her head against his shoulder.

"Gary...thank you."

"For what?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"For coming back for me."

Gary stopped walking and looked down at her tired face, before leaning forth and giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"Of course, Quinn."

"Gary."

"Yeah?"

"Invictus is out there. And it wants to kill you."

"I know."


	2. Like a Mother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightfall won't ever be forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to improve with each chapter. Thank you for reading.

Invictus was intimidating, definitely. Yet, nearly five hours had passed by and the spirit showed no signs of entering the ship anytime soon. Bolo had gone off to look for a certain Titan. The crew of the Crimson Light decided this was the best time to allow themselves to head off to their quarters and rest. If there was one similarity between regular space and final space, it was how quiet the world seemed. No sound, no disturbance, no distractions. Just blissful, peaceful, and quiet.

For now.

The Crimson Light was drifting slowly, the engines turned off. Gary only hoped the night would pass smoothly and Invictus would not bother them. He also prayed no other Titans were going to be visiting anytime soon. A giant possessed monster wasn't exactly the attention they needed right now. 

It hadn't been that long ago Gary was here himself, with two gunshots to the chest and a body full of bruises. Now, Quinn rested peacefully. She wasn't as bruised up or beaten like he was. In fact, despite being extremely tired, Quinn was unharmed. How she managed to survive inside of final space with no resources for so long boggled his mind. Nevertheless, he was thankful she was still with him. He couldn't lose her again. The woman turned lightly in her sleep, tucking her arm under her face.

"AVA, keep check on her vitals. Just make sure nothing is internally wrong with her. Keep her safe."

_"Sure. It's only what I've been doing for the past 4 hours."_

Gary ignored the AI's attitude and stood, walking towards the doorway. A familiar face flew in front of him as he was greeted with Mooncake's loveable smile.

"Chookity pok pok?" wondered the tiny alien, turning his head slightly, glancing towards Quinn.

"She's doing fine bud. I was just heading up front to grab something from the kitchen. Care to join?" he asked, walking past. 

"Chookity!" Mooncake fluttered along, flying next to Gary as the man made his way down the hall of the Crimson Light. Everyone was asleep. Tribore was sleeping on the bottom bunk in Gary's room. Fox and Little Cato were in their regular bedroom while Avocato was sleeping on the floor with a pillow and a blanket in there. Gary wasn't entirely sure where Sheryl was.

_*sniff* *sniff*_

Uh oh.

Gary traced the sound of the sniffles to Ash and Nightfall's old room. Little Cato offered his company, but the girl had refused. She had wanted to be left alone that night. The events were still fresh in all of their minds. Now Gary had to make a choice. Either let her be to deal with the emotions alone, or ask her if she could use a friend. Sometimes the situation was confusing with Ash. They could never tell when something would set her off. But, Gary couldn't leave the poor kid alone. He had to at least try. A few steps more and he was at the doorway.

"AVA, can I talk to her?" he asked politely, looking up at the ceiling. It's where they always assumed the AI's were, since the speakers were located in the corners at the top.

_"She's in a unstable state right now. Are you sure this is a good idea?"_ the feminine voice asked with concern.

"She's lost so much in such a short amount of time. And I know how that feels. I, I have to at least try and be there for her." he answered, Mooncake hovering by his side.

_"Very well. I'll let you in. Ash, Gary is coming inside."_

"I don't want anyone to come in here!" she screamed from inside the room, causing Mooncake's antennae to lower in sadness. Gary took a deep breath, then leaned against the door.

"Hey, Ash. It's me, Gary. I just want to talk."

"I **don't**. Not right now."

"Ash, I know what it's about. And if anyone on this ship feels nearly the same as you do right now, it's me."

"You didn't have the bond we did." She hissed from behind the door.

"No, I didn't. But we still cared for one another. And it hurts. But the thing I've learned in my life is that sometimes the best way to get through the rough times is to be there with people who are going through the same crap. It's important to be alone here and there, and let your emotions out. But you also need to let people in so they can be there for you. That's what a team squad is. We help one another through hell. And you're apart of this family." he finished.

Gary counted nearly 15 seconds of silence before the door swished open, revealing Ash sitting on the bottom bunk, Nightfall's helmet in her hands. She was clutching the armor close to her chest, face streaked with tears. Mooncake zipped over to her and sat down on her side, tucking his face into her thigh. Carefully, Gary walked in, taking a seat next to Ash.

Mooncake mumbled a soft "chookity" and Ash gently petted the creature's head, staring at the wall.

"I miss her." she stated, eyes not moving from their position.

"I know. I do too. I really do."

"Why'd she have to do it?"

Gary looked down at the floor. "Because, that's just the kind of person she was. Always looking out for the rest of us, no matter what. There aren't many people like that in this universe."

"But, she was like..like my mom." Ash whispered. The blonde's eyes widened.

"Well, maybe not entirely my mother but, someone I could look up to. Someone who understood the pain of losing a sister. She just got me. And when I was feeling down, she didn't tell me to "get over it" or "well try to fix your problems". She would just sit there with me and keep me company until I felt better. Or we would talk about guy stuff, or just, hang out. Nightfall was the first person to believe in me and my powers. And she's gone!" she screamed, sending a bright energy blasts into the nearby wall.

_"HUE, we have another hole that needs to be fixed."_ echoed AVA's voice throughout the spacecraft.

"Nightfall went out the way she lived. Doing what she believed was right." spoke Gary. "And I know she would be nothing but proud of you."

"I know but I just- I just miss her so much..." Ash wrapped her arms around Gary, hugging him tightly. Returning the hug, Gary felt tears pricking at the sides of his eyes as well.

"Me too Ash. Me too."

"We'll never see her again." She mumbled.

"No. We won't ever see her again. But tomorrow morning we'll hold a small service. Right here on the ship. It won't be much, but she deserves it."

"..I'd like that." Ash smiled lightly. "But Gary?"

"Yeah?"

"I was actually thinking about keeping her helmet. To...to wear. To keep her memory alive and keep a part of her close."

"Chookity pok pok" Mooncake joined in the hug.

"Ash, I'm sure Nightfall would of loved nothing more."


	3. The Team Squad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's kind of short. But we'll get to larger chapters eventually. Hope you enjoy.

Nightfall's service went as planned, with everyone aboard the Crimson Light attending. Even Sheryl had stood in silence as Gary, Ash, and the rest of the crew members said their goodbyes. Avocato hadn't known Nightfall for very long, yet he understood she was Quinn from a different timeline. Although the Ventrexian was still extremely confused about half the events taking place, he still bowed his head in respect.

Quinn stood off in the corner. Despite being slightly weak, she was mostly unharmed. Gary figured attending a funeral service that was for herself, in a way, would be kind of a strange feeling. Yet she stood there anyways, listening to the crew speak of her future self and how amazing she had been. Minutes later, the service concluded and Gary lay a white blanket over the spear that was sat neatly on the table. Everyone else had moved on to different parts of the ship before Gary walked over to Quinn, smiling lightly.

"Hey, so uh, that was probably kind of weird." he said, rubbing the back of his neck. Quinn shrugged.

"I've spent the last 3 months inside of final space. This seems decently normal to be honest. To be attending a funeral for a version of myself." she answered, leaning against the wall and stretching.

"So, now that you've actually brought that up, how did you survive?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I...I'm not sure. Too be honest, most of the time I spent here I was sleeping."

"Well, we'll figure it out later. Right now I think I should catch you up on everything."

* * *

  
The two humans sat on the floor, next to one of the windows of the Crimson Light. The orange glow washed over them like a sunset. Mooncake was sleeping in Gary's lap, humming softly as the human gently stroked the creature's head. Quinn wrapped a purple blanket around herself, shivering.

"Hey AVA, could you turn the heat up a little?" asked Gary, raising an eyebrow. The AI paused for a split second, before answering.

_"No. We're in a unknown dimension. It's a bad idea to waste our power on extra heat. We don't know where we will find new resources here."_

"But-"

"Gary it's fine. I'm fine." spoke Quinn, nodding her head slightly. The man shifted, leaning his chin on his hand, watching out the window. Listening. Waiting.

"So, tell me about everyone aboard the ship. Or better yet, how did you even get ahold of a spacecraft like this?" she asked, scanning the walls. Gary took another look around the ship, realizing he never truly sat down and took in all the features. They had been a little rushed with finding the keys and staying on the run. The Crimson Light was smaller than the Galaxy One, no doubt. But it was faster, well built, and had the ability to drop-drive.

"Well, after you dissappeared into the breach, I was a mess. I ran out of oxygen."

"..Oh."

"Yeah. Well, HUE uploaded himself into my helmet, he stayed with me till the end. And then I woke up aboard a trash collector. That's where HUE found his physically body he has right now. Well, we ended up in the dump, which was owned by Clarence. You don't know that guy and I'm not even going to tell you about him. He's not worth it."

Quinn chuckled. 

"Chookity pok" Mooncake opened one eye, giving Gary a look.

"Oh okay, I guess he has a slight role in the story. He's the reason we have Ash and Fox. But anyways, he said that he owned HUE and I because we ended up in the dump that he owned. And guess what? Little Cato was already there! I was so glad he was safe, and we were going to make a run for it but Ash strapped little metal bands around our legs and we got stuck there for the night. They weren't going to let us go. But the next day, Clarence gave us a deal. To retrieve the Nymerian Cube, which was one of the dimensional keys. Which we actually didn't know that at the time? But anyways, we were going to steal it during the race. And we did! Also pulled off _winning_ the race too!" Gary laughed, light in his eyes.

Quinn couldn't help but smile, watching him get excited about past adventures. She wished she'd of been there with them through all of it.

"Anyways, the deal was if we retrieved the cube, we got to keep the Crimson Light. Well, we handled our part. But Clarence's cheap, stinky ass wanted to keep the ship for himself. Luckily, Bolo showed up right on time to inform us on the keys, and that we already had one, the cube. And Nightfall had brought Mooncake back to me. And so we all decided we would stick together, and start searching. Things didn't go so smoothly at first. Hell, not sure if they ever went smoothly."

"Chookity."

"But, we started searching. And we found one of the keys on Ash's home planet, Serepentis. We got down there, found the key, Ash watched her sister die, and we also killed the snake god Werthrent. So that was eventful."

"Damn." Quinn shifted, curling the blanket around herself more.

"Then, poor Little Cato got trapped on another side of a time shard. Spent 60 years in isolation."

"What?"

"Yeah. It's hard to even process sometimes. I spent five years alone, I can't imagine sixty. And even then, I had robots and HUE with me. He had no one. But with Ash's powers we were able to break the crystal and bring him back to us. Poor kid's been through a rough patch. Hell, his whole life is a rough patch." Gary sighed, petting Mooncake's head.

"God."

"Well, and then I guess I should let you know by now that the blonde lady sneaking around the ship is my mother."

"Seriously? That's..that's great Gary! I'm happy you have a family member back."

The blonde's eyes turned off to the side, and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah...."

Quinn realized she might of said the wrong words and frowned.

"Sorry Gary. I guess I didn't ask what kind of relationship you guys had."

"No no! You're fine. She just abandoned me when I was 10 after my father died, left me to grow up on my own the rest of my life. Tried to murder me a couple times. I'm sure there's worse parents out there." 

Quinn just stared.

"Well, she's been searching for the dimensional keys too. I guess back in Inner Space she changed her mind. I'm still kind of hesitant towards her though. I don't know if she's just trying to trick us or not. Or maybe she finally changed. I just, there's too much to just forgive, you know? It's going to take time."

Gary's eyes darted to Quinn's hand, which was rested on his own. He hadn't noticed she scooted closer to him while he was speaking.

"I understand. I've had similar situations before. You take the time, and you don't have to forgive her Gary."

Gary moved his hand around hers, squeezing gently.

"I know. I'm still not sure where I stand. We all just need a little time. Time to get used to all the new stuff. It's a lot to take in. I can only imagine what you're going through right now."

Quinn nodded lightly. "I've spent what seemed like forever here. And I'm still here. But everyone is here now. _You're_ here now."

Gary felt his cheeks redden slightly.

"But at the same time, you're _here_ now. You all are. There are kids aboard the ship Gary. Invictus is going to kill them, kill _you_, we have to get out of here." Quinn began to stand but Gary moved his hand to her arm, hoping she would stay.

"Quinn, Quinn. I know you've seen some horrible stuff, but we have to stay calm. Ash, Fox, and Little Cato are kids. But they're the toughest bunch of kids I've ever seen. And as for Invictus wanting to kill me, well, who in the universe doesn't want to kill me? That's nothing new." Gary chuckled. Quinn slowly lowered herself back down and took a deep breath.

"I just want to get out of here." she whispered.

"I know. And we will. Somehow."

Quinn leaned in closer to him, Mooncake deciding to stretch so his legs were resting on her lap while his head lay on Gary's still.

"Invictus hasn't bothered us since we got here. And Bolo's here with us, he's just out doing Titan stuff. He'll be back soon. Hell, Invictus might not even be near here right now."

"No Gary."

"What?"

"Invictus is always here. Invictus is _everywhere_."

Silence passed between the two before Mooncake shifted, humming softly.

"Gary?"

"Yeah?"

"How the hell is Avocato alive?"

"Oh! Right. We went back in time to save him. Temporal worm."

"Oh..."

Gary chuckled, leaning against the side of the wall.

"Yeah it's been one hell of a friggin ride."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it was a bit short but I'm still getting the story together. Any helpful advice is appreciated.

**Author's Note:**

> Part one. I hope anyone who reads this enjoys. Final Space belongs to Olan Rogers.


End file.
